The City of Evansville, Dept. of Urban Forestry, partnered with the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute and consultant Davey Resource Group to conduct an Urban Tree Canopy Assessment in 2024. The purpose of the study was to quantify the existing tree canopy and identify land types and potential planting areas within the city, with the goal of prioritizing actions to increase the tree canopy. The assessment analyzed a roughly 48 square mile (30,623 acres) area within the municipal city boundary.

The results demonstrated Evansville's potential for tree canopy. The current canopy covers only 24% of the city, down 2% from the 2011 assessment. However, there is a potential for the canopy to cover up to 51% of the city with ideal cooperation by landowners and managers. Evansville is a highly urbanized land area, 40% of which is impervious surfaces. That acreage includes man-made surfaces that cannot grow trees or allow infiltration of rainwater, contributing to heat accumulation, retention, and swift stormwater runoff and flooding.

The benefits of tree plantings can include better stormwater management, watershed protection, water quality improvements, temperature moderation and cooling, reduction of air pollutants, and energy conservation. Evansville is designated as a Tree City USA city and will continue to prioritize tree planting to increase tree canopy and its benefits.

Map credit: Davey Resource Group